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>> DAVID BOWIE :: THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD
This is one of my favorites because it was recorded as a band album, and I was the bass player as well as the producer. John Cambridge was ousted for Woody Woodmansey on drums (Woody previously replaced John in Mick's former band from Hull, The Rats -- talk about bad karma!). We practiced loud and the songs were written loud, all of us having a hand in shaping the harmonic content and structure. I recall that only "The Width Of A Circle" was pre-written, but like the rest of the songs on the album, part two (the boogie beat part) was written in the studio. Mick's idols were Cream. He coached Woody to play like Ginger Baker and me to play like Jack Bruce. David was loving the sound of his new band. At the outset David and I agreed to make this album our Sgt. Pepper -- anything goes, no matter how far-fetched. Well, we kind of accomplished that -- the album was so far-fetched nobody bought it! It wasn't until years later that it was recognized for its forward-thinking sound and songwriting concepts. It eventually sold over a million copies. In the '90s, Nirvana lifted the arrangement of the title track note for note for their hit "unplugged" version. David and Angela's love was in full bloom during the recording of this album, which meant that they did a lot of snogging in the studio reception area as Mick, Woody and I were hammering the arrangements together. Most songs didn't have a melody or lyric until much later. In fact, one song's lyrics were written on the day it was mixed! I found this too frustrating. I was better as a music producer than I was at motivating Bowie to get off the couch and into the studio. I just got frustrated and angry, which often led to confrontations. The budget was tight and I had the A&R department of Mercury breathing heavily down my neck. Still, what ended as a nightmare situation for me turned out to be an album I can listen to every so often, smiling from ear to ear when I hear parts of "All The Madmen" and "She Shook Me Cold" -- classic moments for me! When the album was finished, the frustration of making it and David's decision to go with Tony DeFries for management led me to call it a day. I didn't like DeFries then. Marc Bolan and T.Rex were very serious about making great records, so I decided to put all my efforts into them instead. David and I parted on the corner of Regents Street and Cavendish Place, outside of Tony DeFries' office. We would not see each other for another four years, and David would mutate into Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane in the meantime. |
